Mark Richt has certainly taken his fair share of hits over his Dream Team recruiting theme. Some of it could be characterized as chiding over what struck people as being a little too grandiose a concept, but if you read Richt’s explanation, it really comes off as more of a personal vision he was pitching to recruits.

… Richt hopes this recruiting class can turn the Bulldogs back in the right direction. Starting last spring, Richt tried to persuade Georgia’s best high school players to join the Bulldogs as part of what he calls a “Dream Team.”

“When you started watching film and looking at the great players in the state, you went, ‘Wow!'” Richt said. “It just started looking like a super strong class. I thought if we could get most of those guys, it would really be a ‘Dream Team.’ We were just basically dreaming about getting a great class and if you could handpick them, this is what it would be.”

His dream.

Of course, dreaming is one thing. Fulfilling the dream is another. And that’s been the pleasant surprise of the past month. There have been more than a few reasons given for the success of this recruiting season, but the one I think is the most important is the sense of relentless engagement Richt has displayed. Greg McGarity mentioned the other day that he’s seen very little of his head football coach lately.

And then there’s something Mark Schlabach mentioned on his Twitter feed last night.

Talked with Mark Richt last night. He told me he hasn't interviewed any OL coach candidates. Consumed by recruiting

There’s nothing like a near-death experience to focus the mind, is there? I can’t imagine Richt saying something like that in years past.

Which leads me to wonder about something I’ll share. As you sit there today following the faxes as they roll in to Butts-Mehre (Groo has a helpful set of links for that posted here), ask yourself if we’d be seeing the same class sign had Georgia finished, say, 9-4 last season. My guess is no.

In a perverse way, that gives me some hope for this year. Maybe there’s something to be said for McGarity’s talk about Richt having been distracted with too much on his plate. I don’t know what’s left on Richt’s to-do list, but if he’s able to approach each item with the same intensity he’s handled recruiting, he stands a decent chance that it won’t turn into a Bucket List.

11 responses to “There’s nothing wrong with dreaming.”

I suspect we wouldn’t be doing this well in recruiting if Richt couldn’t look these kids in the eye and tell them he’s going to be here and if Richt can do that he’s got the message from McGarity and the other powers that be that this “hot seat” talk is just for internet jackoffs and WWL reporters.

As I watched that video tour of Butts, I noticed the all the time and effort put into displays of Richt and nearly all the team/player pictures are from the Richt era (didn’t see a single Walker/Belue/Champ Bailey/etc. pic) Looks to me like a vote of confidence long term from McGarity.

i don’t really think it’s perverse reasoning because this is the richt we knew in the first several years as a head coach. i well remember that he cut an intense and fairly calculating figure during that time. if we are seeing the first outward signs of a “new” richt, we’ve actually seen this man before. and he was a damn good coach (clock issues aside).

Not sure if anyone’s following it, but so far, NSD has been a huge whiff for Georgia. Only LB Kent Turene and RB Isaiah Crowell left to decide. And rumors are swirling that Bama made a late — and successful — push for Crowell.

Still a solid class regardless, but hardly a “dream” if we miss out on Crowell and JUCO DT John Jenkins (who won’t announce until Saturday).

There’s nothing like a near-death experience to focus the mind, is there?
Nowhere have I seen it put more astutely.

Not sure if anyone’s following it, but so far, NSD has been a huge whiff for Georgia
Yes I have, please explain. We have a consensus top 10 class, which consists of 11-4 star players and (currently) 1-5 star. To me we’ve addressed our needs with exception to RB. Even if we do miss on Crowell this will be a great class.